Guest Blog: After Lehman and Stanford, Dealing With a Tainted Resume

By WSJ Staff

Regina Itliong was an executive assistant at Stanford Financial Group before being laid off in March 2009. Previously, Ms. Itliong, 29, worked as client administrator for Neuberger Berman LLC and spent almost four years at HSBC Bank. She graduated from Manhattan College with an undergraduate degree in psychology in 2000. Ms. Itliong lives in West New York, New Jersey.

After losing my position at Neuberger Berman which was under the Lehman Brothers umbrella, I was hired at a small investment bank in October 2008. I was grateful that my Series 7 license was taken on and that my months of study would not go to waste. I accepted an executive assistant role for the investment-banking technology team — relieved like the rest of my newly hired colleagues to find a place to ride out the recession. The feeling was short-lived. The boutique investment bank I joined was Stanford Financial, now splashed with scandal as its owner was accused of running a Ponzi scheme.

With a bankruptcy filing and a scandal within a span of six months, the names on my resume are now working against me and the economy is not looking any better. Before, a license was an advantage but now it’s a double-edged sword. The 7 makes me look too ambitious for the position. And why match my salary when there are candidates willing to work for half the price? I joke around comparing myself to Wall Street stock — I am now selling myself cheap.

A handful of interviews were no longer about what skills I could offer the organization but rather what was it like at Neuberger Berman months before our parent company’s bankruptcy filing. Or I was asked for an account of what happened to the employees right after the Stanford receivership. In simple words, things were chaotic. We were left with no direction and were hanging for two weeks without a paycheck. I even got interviewed by a hedge fund that took over our office space. A former colleague was mentioned in an article that there was now a stigma on our resumes, while another commented that sometimes you were interviewed out of mere curiosity.

Upon seeing Stanford on my resume, one manager at a real-estate investment firm mentioned that the candidate before me worked in a support role at Madoff Securities. After berating the woman’s competency and intelligence, he commented that he would never hire her. If they never wanted to hire her, why did they interview her in the first place? This meeting was obviously taking a nose dive. Since I have two companies that went under on my resume, he asked if I was the cause of their bad luck, a comment that took me aback. It was not the first time I would have to defend myself, reiterating that I was not involved in stealing money. I don’t believe employees in their right minds join an organization envisioning their workplace and source of income would dissolve especially in the worst recession.

I chalked it up as just guilty by association. But I was not alone — it was myself and 3,000 of my other colleagues. Through this mass layoff, the Stanford alumni have become a good resource for me to share opinions and encouragement.

Having a tainted resume you have to work twice as hard showcasing your talent so they focus on what you can bring to the table rather than where you came from. I always try to put a positive spin that despite what happened — this is what I learned and here are the additional skills I honed.

As time passes, interviews are becoming easier. Because of the financial meltdown, the majority of interviewers are no longer as judgmental. I never wanted to lose my former position, but the situation is beyond one’s control. Like the rest of us support candidates out there, I’m just looking for a job — and the objective of every interview is to get an offer.

Readers, how have you dealt with the stigma of working for previous employers? Share your stories in the comments section.

Comments (5 of 13)

As time passes, interviews are becoming easier. Because of the financial meltdown, the majority of interviewers are no longer as judgmental. I never wanted to lose my former position, but the situation is beyond one’s control. Like the rest of us support candidates out there, I’m just looking for a job — and the objective of every interview is to get an offer.

Readers, how have you dealt with the stigma of working for previous employers? Share your stories in the comments section

2:34 pm October 21, 2009

Steave wrote :

Nice story as for me. I'd like to read something more about that theme.

4:05 pm September 16, 2009

CKH wrote :

It looks like you should have different versions of your resume depending on what types of jobs you are applying for. If you are applying for Executive Assistant positions and you think having the Series 7 exam information included on your resume hurts you, then take that piece of information off the version of the resume you use when you are applying for EA positions.

I also don't believe that people would hold someone applying for an EA position responsible for what happened at Lehman. But if you actually worked at the less well-known Neuberger-Berrman subsidiary use that title and not Lehman on your resume if you feel that the Lehman name is so tainted.

4:45 pm September 15, 2009

TonyM @ leavingfinance.com wrote :

I actually agree with Financial Samurai. Don't raise it until they do. No reason. Always try and keep the content as positive as you can (like you mentioned you do). Most employers should be smart enough to realize the blowup was nothing to do with you. Also, you can't compare Neuberger with Stanford/ponzi scheme. The former is a good shop, it was just bought by an i-bank that unfortunately went under.

A bachelor's in psych to be an executive assistant? Sounds wrong on her end as well as the companies' ends. Both companies actually needed more financial know how, not less.

Biographies

Steve McConaughey, was the director of marketing for the service division of Siemens Healthcare, until his position was eliminated in November 2008 after five years with the company. Previously, Mr. McConaughey, 50, worked for three software and networking startup companies in Silicon Valley and North Carolina. He earned an M.B.A. from University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business in 1990. He lives with his wife and son in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Angela Dorsey,was a panel operations manager for comScore, Inc., a marketing research company, until her job was eliminated in October 2009 after more than a year with the company. Previously, Ms. Dorsey, 38, was a senior program manager for Blackboard, Inc., an e-learning technology software provider. She earned an M.B.A. and M.S. in e-commerce from the University of Maryland, University College in August 2005 and December 2007, respectively. She lives with her husband in Alexandria, Virginia.

Henry Chalian,was a relationship manager at J.P. Morgan before his job was eliminated in May 2009 after seven years with the company. Mr. Chalian, 41, received a masters degree from the London School of Economics in 1995 and is currently completing a certificate of business excellence at Columbia Business School. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Kevin Mergens,was a product manager for ADP Dealer Services. His job was eliminated in June 2009. Previously, Mr. Mergens, 40, was a marketing manager at Littlelfuse. He earned an M.B.A. from Michigan State University ’s Broad School of Management in 1993. Mr. Mergens lives with his wife and three children in Niles, Ill.

Kevin Chenoweth,was previously a senior consultant with Deloitte Consulting. His position was eliminated in April 2009 after more than a year with the firm. Prior to that, Mr. Chenoweth, 39, was a consultant with Lucidity Consulting group. He earned an M.B.A. from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1993. He lives in Denver.

Brent Humphries,was a technical project manager at the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care. His position was eliminated in June 2009, after five years with the nonprofit. Previously, he worked as an IT contractor for various financial services companies. Mr. Humphries, 37, earned a part-time MBA from the University of Iowa in 2009. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

John Brownrigg was a senior manager at Corporex Companies LLC, a real-estate development company. Mr. Brownrigg, 54, was laid off in August 2008 after almost two years with the company. Previously, he worked on commercial real estate and construction projects for General Electric, Ericsson and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He earned an M.B.A. from University of Texas Austin in 1984. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife and two children.

Geoff Hibner lost his position as CFO of Banta Corp. when
the company was sold to a larger competitor in 2007. Previously, he was an independent consultant as well as a senior vice president and
CFO at Timberland Co. Mr. Hibner earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1977. He lives with his wife in Neenah, Wis., and has
two adult children.

F. Ellen Whaley spent over 11 years at Aetna Inc., most recently
as an operations CFO. Her position was eliminated in 2001. Previously, Ms. Whaley, 54, was a management consultant.
She's now looking to re-enter the job market after an eight-year hiatus. She earned an M.B.A.
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Lally School of Management and Technology in 1983.
She lives with her family in Essex, Conn.

Jon Gray was manager of planning and analysis at Xsigo
Systems, a San Jose technology start-up. He was laid off in November 2008, after almost two years with the company.
Previously, Mr. Gray, 34, spent seven years in various finance roles at Symantec Corp., a security software maker. Mr. Gray earned his
M.B.A. in 2006 from INSEAD. He lives in Los Gatos, Calif.

Dawn Jordan's position as an operations vice president at
Bank of America was eliminated in late October. Ms. Jordan, 39, previously worked at Countrywide Financial as vice president of customer
retention. Ms. Jordan received an M.B.A. from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 2008. She
lives in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Laid Off Alumni

Christopher Janc, was most recently a senior vice president at Madison Capital Funding LLC, a leveraged debt provider to middle market private equity firms. He spent seven years at the company and was laid off in January 2009. Mr. Janc, 41, spent the previous seven years with three other middle market financial services firms. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2000. He lives with his wife and two kids in Elmhurst, Ill. a suburb of Chicago. After a ten-month job search, Mr. Janc landed a wealth management position with J.P. Morgan.

Kevin Hudson spent almost four years at ServiceMaster as
an IT finance director. When the company relocated to Memphis earlier in 2008, Mr. Hudson, 52, decided not to move. He received an
M.B.A. from the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in 1984. Mr. Hudson lives in Oak Lawn, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.
After a 19-month job search, Mr. Hudson's yearlong part-time assignment turned into a full-time consulting position.

Heidi Mannetter was a senior marketing strategist at
Principal Financial Group Inc. before her position was eliminated in June. Ms. Mannetter, 33, was with the financial-services provider
for three years. She earned an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa's Tippie School of Management in 2006, and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
After a ten-week job search, Ms. Mannetter landed a marketing manager position for Kemin Food Ingredients

Kerry Sanderson was manager of community relations at Jobing.com before her position was eliminated in March 2009. Ms. Sanderson, 43, was previously director of employer relations and business development at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She earned an M.B.A. at Rice University’s Jones School of Global Business in 2000. She lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
After an eight-month job search, Ms. Sanderson now works in account management for an e-commerce company.

Prakash Nagpal was the vice president of products at Sylantro Systems Corp. before his position was eliminated in late 2008. Previously, Mr Nagpal, 42, was a general manager of products at Covad Communications Group, Inc. He earned his M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson School in 2000. He lives in Oakland, Calif. with his wife and two children.
After more than six months of searching, Mr. Nagpal is now involved in carrier marketing at Actelis Networks.

Kenneth Jones was laid off in March 2009 from Nortel Networks Corp. where he worked as a services product line manager. Mr. Jones, 43, spent 11 years at the company with roles in IT operations, software development, business development and product management. Mr. Jones earned an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business in 2003. He lives with his wife and two children in Chapel Hill, N.C.
After a seven-month job search, Mr. Jones landed a product management role at Elster Intergrated Solutions.

Joel Friedman was eliminated from his position as
the vice president of enterprise technology at the First Horizon National Corp. in May 2009. He spent 13 years with the company.
Previously, Mr. Friedman, 40, worked as a call center and sales team manager at Budget Rent A Car, now owned by Avis Budget Group, Inc.
He received an Executive M.B.A. from the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business in 2006. He lives in McKinney, Texas.
After a three month job search, Mr. Friedman landed a position as the chief information officer at Century Payments, a payment processing company.

Rachel Levy worked as marketing director at the Jewish
Community Centers of Greater Boston before her position was eliminated in July 2008. She previously held brand management positions at
Kraft Foods Inc. and Jim Beam Brands Co. Ms. Levy, 37, received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in
1998. She lives in Boston.
A year later, Ms. Levy was offered a director of marketing and social media position at Second Time Around, a Boston-based consignment store chain.

Michael Crehan, 54, spent the last eight years as a senior
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He earned an M.B.A. from Babson College in 1982 and lives in Fairfield, Conn.
Seventeen months after his layoff, Mr. Crehan accepted a career development position at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business.

Amanda Sundt, 35, was a senior marketing manager at Orbitz
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Brian Murphy spent a year as an associate in Bear Stearns'
investment banking division until the firm collapsed. Mr. Murphy, 35, is searching for restructuring or turnaround management jobs and
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Karen Reid spent the last six years at Citigroup Inc. Her
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Matthew Vuturo, 27, worked as a strategic planning manager
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Spencer Cutter was a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers
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Karina Diaz Cano was a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers
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Brian Fetterolf lost his real estate investment banking position
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